Offloading application traffic to a shared communication channel for signal optimization in a wireless network for traffic utilizing proprietary and non-proprietary protocols

ABSTRACT

A method of reducing network traffic includes blocking, at a mobile device, a first channel to reduce network signaling in a network and to reduce battery consumption. The first channel includes a non-common channel. The method includes offloading application traffic of an application onto a second channel. The second channel may include a common channel. The method may include monitoring the application traffic of the application over the second channel, unblocking the first channel based on the monitored application traffic so that the application can perform an action, and re-blocking the first channel after the action has been completed. The method may include unblocking the first channel when user activity is detected, wherein the user activity includes whether the mobile device is being interacted with.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/395,483 filed on Apr. 26, 2019 and entitled “Blocking applicationtraffic for resource conservation in a mobile device”, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/055,603 filed onAug. 6, 2018 and entitled “METHODS FOR REDUCING TRAFFIC FOR A MOBILEDEVICE COMMUNICATING OVER MULTIPLE CHANNELS”, now U.S. Pat. No.10,291,537, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/630,523 filed on Jun. 22, 2017 and entitled “OFFLOADING APPLICATIONTRAFFIC TO A SHARED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL FOR SIGNAL OPTIMIZATION IN AWIRELESS NETWORK FOR TRAFFIC UTILIZING PROPRIETARY AND NON-PROPRIETARYPROTOCOLS”, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,063,486, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/099,254 filed on Apr. 14, 2016 andentitled “OFFLOADING APPLICATION TRAFFIC TO A SHARED COMMUNICATIONCHANNEL FOR SIGNAL OPTIMIZATION IN A WIRELESS NETWORK FOR TRAFFICUTILIZING PROPRIETARY AND NON-PROPRIETARY PROTOCOLS”, now U.S. Pat. No.9,716,663, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/474,329 filed on Sep. 2, 2014 and entitled “OFFLOADING APPLICATIONTRAFFIC TO A SHARED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL FOR SIGNAL OPTIMIZATION IN AWIRELESS NETWORK FOR TRAFFIC UTILIZING PROPRIETARY AND NON-PROPRIETARYPROTOCOLS”, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,325,600, which is a continuation of PCTPatent Application No. PCT/US14/42006 filed on Jun. 11, 2014 andentitled “OFFLOADING APPLICATION TRAFFIC TO A SHARED COMMUNICATIONCHANNEL FOR SIGNAL OPTIMIZATION IN A WIRELESS NETWORK FOR TRAFFICUTILIZING PROPRIETARY AND NON-PROPRIETARY PROTOCOLS”, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/833,844 filed onJun. 11, 2013 and entitled “OFFLOADING APPLICATION TRAFFIC TO A SHAREDCOMMUNICATION CHANNEL FOR SIGNALING OPTIMIZATION IN A WIRELESS NETWORKFOR TRAFFIC UTILIZING PROPRIETARY AND NON-PROPRIETARY PROTOCOLS”, theentire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

An increasing amount of mobile traffic is moving to vendor-specificproprietary protocols. Examples include Google's traffic over TCP port5228, WhatsApp, Urban Airship push notifications used by variousapplication vendors, Skype, Yahoo Mail 2.0 etc. This means that more andmore of the application traffic that causes signaling now includessignificant contribution from proprietary protocols on top of trafficutilizing standardized protocols such as HTTP/HTTPS. The disclosedtechnology includes an architecture (e.g., the distributed systemcomprised of the local proxy and/or the proxy server) to optimizesignaling for arbitrary, proprietary, and/or non-standard protocols, inaddition to standard protocols such as HTTP or HTTPS by offloadingapplication traffic from a proprietary or application specificcommunication channel to a shared communication channel.

SUMMARY

One or more methods are disclosed herein. The one or more methods mayinclude determining that a device is communicating over at least twooverlapping push channels and blocking one of the push channels toeliminate or reduce overlap between the at least two overlapping pushchannels. Blocking may include dropping IP packets received from theblocked push channel. Blocking may include rejecting an IP packetreceived from the blocked push channel. Blocking may include blocking onan application layer for communications received from the blocked pushchannel. The one or more methods may include determining the state ofany existing connections that an application on the device iscommunicating on. The one or more methods may include, in response todetermining the state of an existing connection, closing the applicationconnection. The one or more methods may include receiving a push messagefrom an additional push channel and unblocking the blocked push channelso that the application can perform an action in response to the messagefrom the additional push channel. The one or more methods may includenotifying the user of the action. The one or more methods may includere-blocking the unblocked push channel after the action has completed.The one or more methods may include determining that the action iscomplete and re-blocking the unblocked push channel after the action hascompleted. The one or more methods may include denying blocking of thepush channel until a radio of the mobile device is powered on. The pushchannels may be proprietary or application specific. Blocking one of thepush channels may include blocking a non-common push channel to offloadthe communication onto a common push channel.

A method of reducing network traffic is provided. The method may includerecognizing multiple overlapping push channels at an application,determining that a first push channel of said multiple overlapping pushchannels can be blocked with minimal user experience impact, blockingthe first push channel to reduce network signaling and batteryconsumption, monitoring application traffic over a second push channelof said multiple overlapping push channels, unblocking the first pushchannel based on monitored application traffic to service applicationtraffic, and re-blocking the first push channel after the applicationhas serviced application traffic. Recognizing multiple overlapping pushchannels may be performed offline. Recognizing multiple overlapping pushchannels may be performed in real time. In one or more embodiments, thefirst channel may be that of a third party. Blocking may be performed byone of the following: dropping IP packets, rejecting IP packets, andblocking an application layer. Servicing application traffic may includenotifying a user.

Provided herein is non-transitory computer readable media containingcomputer code to implement a processor controlled system for determiningthat a device is communicating over at least two overlapping pushchannels and blocking one of the push channels to reduce overlap betweenthe at least two overlapping push channels. The computer code implementsa processor controlled system that blocks by dropping IP packets. Thecomputer code implements a processor controlled system that blocks byrejecting IP packets. The computer code implements a processorcontrolled system that blocks an application layer. The computer codeimplements a processor controlled system that determines the state ofany existing connections that the system is communicating on. Thecomputer code implements a processor controlled system that closes anapplication connection. The computer code implements a processorcontrolled system that receives a push message from an additional pushchannel and unblocks the blocked push channel so that the system canperform an action in response to the message from the additional pushchannel. The computer code may implement a processor controlled systemthat notifies the user of the action. The computer code implements aprocessor controlled system that re-blocks the unblocked push channelafter the action has completed. The computer code implements a processorcontrolled system that determines that the action is complete andre-blocks the unblocked push channel after the action has completed.Non-transitory computer readable media containing computer code toimplement a processor controlled system for reducing network traffic isprovided and configured for recognizing multiple overlapping pushchannels at an application, determining that a first push channel ofsaid multiple overlapping push channels can be blocked with minimal userexperience impact, blocking the first push channel such that networksignaling and battery consumption are reduced, monitoring applicationtraffic over a second push channel of said multiple overlapping pushchannels, unblocking the first push channel based on application trafficover the second push channel to enable servicing application traffic,and re-blocking the first push channel after the application hasperformed necessary network access to service the application traffic.Recognizing multiple overlapping push channels may be performed offline.Recognizing multiple overlapping push channels may be performed in realtime. At least one of said multiple overlapping push channels may bethat of a third party. Blocking may be performed by one of thefollowing: dropping IP packets, rejecting IP packets, and blocking inputto an application layer.

A communication network may be provided. The network may include amobile device having a processor, memory for storing information, and auser interface, the mobile device operating in accord with an operatingsystem and in accord with a push client application. Also provided is afirst server, a second server, a host server, a first networkoperatively connecting said first server and said second server to saidhost server, and a second network operatively connecting said firstnetwork to said mobile device. The push client application controls theprocessor to cause the mobile device to determine that the first serverand the second server produce overlapping first and second push channelsand block the first push channel to reduce overlap between the first andsecond push channels. The mobile device may block the first push channelby dropping IP packets, rejecting IP packets, or blocking an applicationlayer. The processor may further include determining the state of anyexisting connections that an application on the device is communicatingon.

A communication network is provided. The network includes a mobiledevice having a processor, memory storing an operating system and a pushclient application, and a user interface. The mobile device operates inaccord with the operating system and in accord with the push clientapplication. A first server having a first push channel and a secondserver having a second push channel that overlaps the first push channelare provided. A host server is provided. A first network operativelyconnects said first server and the second server to said host server anda second network operatively connects the first network to said mobiledevice. The push client application controls the processor to determinethat the first and second push channels overlap, determine that thefirst push channel can be blocked with minimal user experience impact,block the first push channel to reduce network signaling and batteryconsumption, monitor traffic on the second push channel, unblock thefirst push channel based on traffic on the second push channel, andre-block the first push channel after the push client application hasperformed necessary network access to service application traffic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a system according to one or more embodimentsdisclosed herein;

FIG. 1B illustrates an example diagram according to one or moreembodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 1C illustrates an example diagram according to one or moreembodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 2A illustrates a block diagram of client-side components accordingto one or more embodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 2B illustrates a block diagram of an adaptation engine according toone or more embodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 2C illustrates a block diagram of a client side proxy according toone or more embodiments disclosed herein; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a computer systemaccording to one or more embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in certaininstances, well-known or conventional details are not described in orderto avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an embodimentin the present disclosure can be, but not necessarily are, references tothe same embodiment; and, such references mean at least one of theembodiments.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinarymeanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in thespecific context where each term is used. Certain terms that are used todescribe the disclosure are discussed below, or elsewhere in thespecification, to provide additional guidance to the practitionerregarding the description of the disclosure. For convenience, certainterms may be highlighted, for example using italics and/or quotationmarks. The use of highlighting has no influence on the scope and meaningof a term; the scope and meaning of a term is the same, in the samecontext, whether or not it is highlighted. It will be appreciated thatsame thing can be said in more than one way.

Consequently, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any oneor more of the terms discussed herein, nor is any special significanceto be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussedherein. Synonyms for certain terms are provided. A recital of one ormore synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use ofexamples anywhere in this specification including examples of any termsdiscussed herein is illustrative only, and is not intended to furtherlimit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any exemplifiedterm. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodimentsgiven in this specification.

Without intent to limit the scope of the disclosure, examples ofinstruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according tothe embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note thattitles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of areader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unlessotherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein havethe same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in theart to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, thepresent document, including definitions will control.

Existing signaling optimization systems and methods for reducing mobilenetwork congestion can optimize mobile traffic over standard andnon-proprietary application level protocols including, but not limitedto: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hypertext Transfer ProtocolSecure (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail TransferProtocol (SMTP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Post OfficeProtocol (POP), and the like. However, many mobile applications aremoving away from the standard protocols towards vendor specificproprietary protocols. For example, Google utilizes a non-standardTransmission Control Protocol (TCP) port 5228. By way of anotherexample, the “WhatsApp” mobile application uses a customized version ofthe Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). Similarly, someapplications such as Skype and Yahoo mail use their own proprietaryprotocols, while others such as Urban Airship's push notificationsprotocol is used by various vendors.

Existing signaling optimization systems and methods replay or replicateentire transaction as instructed by a client, which means that theserver performing the signal optimization needs to establish any session(TCP socket and any application level handshakes, Secure Sockets Layer(SSL), etc.) autonomously. However, to do so, the protocols must be wellunderstood. For example, the header and other protocol specific datamust be known before any optimization can be performed. As proprietaryprotocols are not standardized and not well understood, mobile trafficover such proprietary protocols cannot be optimized by existingoptimization systems and methods.

Embodiments of the present disclosure includes offloading applicationtraffic to a shared communication channel for signaling optimization ina wireless network for traffic utilizing both proprietary andnon-proprietary protocols. The disclosed technology includes anarchitecture (e.g., a distributed system comprised of a local proxyand/or a proxy server) that optimizes signaling for arbitrary,proprietary, and/or non-standard protocols, in addition to standardprotocols such as HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, IMAP, POP, XMPP, and the likein one embodiment. In a further embodiment, the disclosed technologyprovides a protocol agnostic systems and methods for signalingoptimization for any traffic in a wireless network.

In one embodiment, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) stream ispassed as a byte stream from an application to a local proxy over afirst session, from the local proxy to a proxy server over a second TCPsession, and from the proxy server to a content server over a third TCPsession. The local proxy observes and identifies patterns within thebyte stream, without being aware of the underlying protocol. Once apattern is identified, the second TCP session is torn down such that thefirst TCP session replays the pattern to the application, and third TCPsession replays the pattern to the content server. Once either sidedetects a change in the pattern, the second TCP session isre-established to deliver the changed content to the other end.

When it is not possible to identify a pattern within a byte stream andperform a direct replay of the binary transactions, and/or in additionto the TCP stream optimization, the disclosed innovation herein providessystems and methods for offloading or redirecting application trafficfrom the application-specific channel to a shared channel such as theGoogle Cloud Messaging (GCM) channel, which can optimize signaling inthe wireless network for traffic utilizing various proprietary andnon-proprietary protocols. The application traffic offloading to aremote or messaging server such as the Google Cloud Messaging (GCM)server if facilitated by a local proxy and/or a proxy server. As usedherein, GCM may refer to any shared channel.

The GCM server allows transfer of data from an application server orcontent provider to user devices using XMPP (upstream and downstreami.e., device to cloud and cloud to device). The GCM server can queuemessages and deliver the messages to the target applications on the userdevice. These messages can inform the mobile application that there isnew data to be fetched from the content provider or application serverand/or can include actual data (e.g., instant messages).

FIG. 1A illustrates an example diagram of a system where a host serverfacilitates management of traffic, content caching, and/or resourceconservation between mobile devices (e.g., wireless devices), anapplication server or content provider, or other servers such as an adserver, promotional content server, an e-coupon server or messagingservers such as the Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) server in a wirelessnetwork (or broadband network) for resource conservation. The hostserver can further optimize signaling in a wireless network for trafficutilizing proprietary (non-standard) and non-proprietary (e.g., HTTP)protocols.

The client devices 150 can be any system and/or device, and/or anycombination of devices/systems that is able to establish a connection,including wired, wireless, cellular connections with another device, abase station 112, a server and/or other systems such as host server 100and/or application server/content provider 110. Client devices 150 willtypically include a display and/or other output functionalities topresent information and data exchanged between among the devices 150and/or the host server 100 and/or application server/content provider110. The application server/content provider 110 can by any serverincluding third party servers or service/content providers furtherincluding advertisement, promotional content, publication, or electroniccoupon servers or services. Similarly, separate advertisement servers120 a, promotional content servers 120 b, and/or e-Coupon servers 120 cas application servers or content providers are illustrated by way ofexample.

For example, the client/mobile devices 150 can include mobile, hand heldor portable devices, wireless devices, or non-portable devices and canbe any of, but not limited to, a server desktop, a desktop computer, acomputer cluster, or portable devices, including a notebook, a laptopcomputer, a handheld computer, a palmtop computer, a mobile phone, acell phone, a smart phone, a PDA, a Blackberry device, a Palm device,any tablet, a phablet (a class of smart phones with larger screen sizesbetween a typical smart phone and a tablet), a handheld tablet (e.g., aniPad, the Galaxy series, the Nexus, the Kindles, Kindle Fires, anyAndroid-based tablets, Windows-based tablets, or any other tablet), anyportable readers/reading devices, a hand held console, a hand heldgaming device or console, a head mounted device, a head mounted display,a thin client or any SuperPhone such as the iPhone, and/or any otherportable, mobile, hand held devices, or fixed wireless interface such asa M2M device, etc. In one embodiment, the client devices 150 (or mobiledevices 150), host server 100, and application server 110 are coupledvia a network 106 and/or a network 108. In some embodiments, the devices150 and host server 100 may be directly connected to one another.

The input mechanism on client devices 150 can include touch screenkeypad (including single touch, multi-touch, gesture sensing in 2D or3D, etc.), a physical keypad, a mouse, a pointer, a track pad, a stylus,a stylus detector/sensor/receptor, motion detector/sensor (e.g.,including 1-axis, 2-axis, 3-axis accelerometer, etc.), a facedetector/recognizer, a retinal detector/scanner, a light sensor,capacitance sensor, resistance sensor, temperature sensor, proximitysensor, a piezoelectric device, device orientation detector (e.g.,electronic compass, tilt sensor, rotation sensor, gyroscope,accelerometer), or any combination of the above.

Signals received or detected indicating user activity at client devices150 through one or more of the above input mechanism, or others, can beused in the disclosed technology in acquiring context awareness at theclient device 150. Context awareness at client devices 150 generallyincludes, by way of example but not limitation, client device 150operation or state acknowledgement, management, useractivity/behavior/interaction awareness, detection, sensing, tracking,trending, and/or application (e.g., mobile applications) type, behavior,activity, operating state, etc.

Context awareness in the present disclosure also includes knowledge anddetection of network side contextual data and can include networkinformation such as network capacity, bandwidth, traffic, type ofnetwork/connectivity, and/or any other operational state data. Networkside contextual data can be received from and/or queried from networkservice providers (e.g., cell provider 112 and/or Internet serviceproviders) of the network 106 and/or network 108 (e.g., by the hostserver and/or devices 150). In addition to application context awarenessas determined from the client 150 side, the application contextawareness may also be received from or obtained/queried from therespective application/service providers 110 (by the host 100 and/orclient devices 150).

The host server 100 can use, for example, contextual informationobtained for client devices 150, networks 106/108, applications (e.g.,mobile applications), application server/provider 110, or anycombination of the above, to manage the traffic in the system to satisfydata needs of the client devices 150 (e.g., to satisfy application orany other request including HTTP request). In one embodiment, thetraffic is managed by the host server 100 to satisfy data requests madein response to explicit or non-explicit user 103 requests and/ordevice/application maintenance tasks. The traffic can be managed suchthat network consumption, for example, use of the cellular network isconserved for effective and efficient bandwidth utilization. Inaddition, the host server 100 can manage and coordinate such traffic inthe system such that use of device 150 side resources (e.g., includingbut not limited to battery power consumption, radio use,processor/memory use) are optimized with a general philosophy forresource conservation while still optimizing performance and userexperience. The host server 100 may also indirectly manage traffic viacreation, selection and/or deployment of traffic blocking policy forimplementation on the mobile device in some embodiments.

For example, in context of battery conservation, the device 150 canobserve user activity (for example, by observing user keystrokes,backlight status, or other signals via one or more input mechanisms,etc.) and alters device 150 behaviors. The device 150 can also requestthe host server 100 to alter the behavior for network resourceconsumption based on user activity or behavior.

In one embodiment, the traffic management for resource conservationand/or keepalive optimization/algorithms for signaling optimization isperformed using a distributed system between the host server 100 andclient device 150. The distributed system can include proxy server andcache components on the server side 100 and on the device/client side,for example, as shown by the server cache 135 on the server 100 side andthe local cache 185 on the client 150 side. In one embodiment, thetraffic management for reducing signaling in the network and reducing oralleviating network congestion can be implemented on the mobile device150 without any support from the server-side proxy or other network-sidecomponents.

Functions and techniques disclosed for context aware traffic managementand keepalive algorithms for resource conservation and reducing oroptimizing signaling in networks (e.g., network 106 and/or 108) anddevices 150, reside in a distributed proxy and cache system. The proxyand cache system can be distributed between, and reside on, a givenclient device 150 in part or in whole and/or host server 100 in part orin whole. The distributed proxy and cache system are illustrated withfurther reference to the example diagram shown in FIG. 1B. Functions andtechniques performed by the proxy and cache components in the clientdevice 150 and the related components therein are described,respectively, in detail with further reference to the examples of FIG.2A.

In one embodiment, client devices 150 communicate with the host server100 and/or the application server 110 over network 106, which can be acellular network and/or a broadband network. To facilitate overalltraffic management between devices 150 and various applicationservers/content providers 110 to implement network (bandwidthutilization) and device resource (e.g., battery consumption), the hostserver 100 can communicate with the application server/providers 110over the network 108, which can include the Internet (e.g., a broadbandnetwork).

In general, the networks 106 and/or 108, over which the client devices150, the host server 100, and/or application server 110 communicate, maybe a cellular network, a broadband network, a telephonic network, anopen network, such as the Internet, or a private network, such as anintranet and/or the extranet, or any combination thereof. For example,the Internet can provide file transfer, remote log in, email, news, RSS,cloud-based services, instant messaging, visual voicemail, push mail,VoIP, and other services through any known or convenient protocol, suchas, but is not limited to the TCP/IP protocol, UDP, HTTP, DNS, FTP,UPnP, NSF, ISDN, PDH, RS-232, SDH, SONET, etc.

The networks 106 and/or 108 include any collection of distinct networksoperating wholly or partially in conjunction to provide connectivity tothe client devices 150 and the host server 100 and may appear as one ormore networks to the serviced systems and devices. In one embodiment,communications to and from the client devices 150 can be achieved by, anopen network, such as the Internet, or a private network, broadbandnetwork, such as an intranet and/or the extranet. In one embodiment,communications can be achieved by a secure communications protocol, suchas secure sockets layer (SSL), or transport layer security (TLS).

In addition, communications can be achieved via one or more networks,such as, but are not limited to, one or more of WiMax, a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Personal areanetwork (PAN), a Campus area network (CAN), a Metropolitan area network(MAN), a Wide area network (WAN), a Wireless wide area network (WWAN),or any broadband network, and further enabled with technologies such as,by way of example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Personal Communications Service (PCS), Bluetooth, WiFi, Fixed WirelessData, 2G, 2.5G, 3G (e.g., WCDMA/UMTS based 3G networks), 4G,IMT-Advanced, pre-4G, LTE Advanced, mobile WiMax, WiMax 2, WirelessMAN-Advanced networks, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE),General packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced GPRS, iBurst, UMTS, HSPDA,HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, UMTS-TDD, 1xRTT, EV-DO, messaging protocols such as,TCP/IP, SMS, MMS, extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP),real time messaging protocol (RTMP), instant messaging and presenceprotocol (IMPP), instant messaging, USSD, IRC, or any other wirelessdata networks, broadband networks, or messaging protocols.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example diagram of a proxy and cache systemdistributed between the host server and device which facilitates networktraffic management between a device, an application server or contentprovider, or other servers such as an ad server, promotional contentserver, an e-coupon server or messaging servers such as the GCM serverfor resource conservation and content caching. The proxy systemdistributed among the host server and the device can further optimizesignaling in a wireless network for traffic utilizing proprietary(non-standard) and non-proprietary (e.g., HTTP) protocols.

The distributed proxy and cache system can include, for example, theproxy server 125 (e.g., remote proxy) and the server cache, 135components on the server side. The server-side proxy 125 and cache 135can, as illustrated, reside internal to the host server 100. Inaddition, the proxy server 125 and cache 135 on the server-side can bepartially or wholly external to the host server 100 and in communicationvia one or more of the networks 106 and 108. For example, the proxyserver 125 may be external to the host server and the server cache 135may be maintained at the host server 100. Alternatively, the proxyserver 125 may be within the host server 100 while the server cache isexternal to the host server 100. In addition, each of the proxy server125 and the cache 135 may be partially internal to the host server 100and partially external to the host server 100. The applicationserver/content provider 110 can by any server including third partyservers or service/content providers further including advertisement,promotional content, publication, or electronic coupon servers orservices. Similarly, separate advertisement servers 120A, promotionalcontent servers 120B, e-Coupon servers 120C, and/or messaging servers(e.g., GCM servers) 120D as application servers or content providers areillustrated by way of example.

The distributed system can also, include, in one embodiment, client-sidecomponents, including by way of example but not limitation, a localproxy 175 (e.g., a mobile client on a mobile device) and/or a localcache 185, which can, as illustrated, reside internal to the device 150(e.g., a mobile device).

In addition, the client-side proxy 175 and local cache 185 can bepartially or wholly external to the device 150 and in communication viaone or more of the networks 106 and 108. For example, the local proxy175 may be external to the device 150 and the local cache 185 may bemaintained at the device 150. Alternatively, the local proxy 175 may bewithin the device 150 while the local cache 185 is external to thedevice 150. In addition, each of the proxy 175 and the cache 185 may bepartially internal to the host server 100 and partially external to thehost server 100.

In one embodiment, the distributed system can include an optionalcaching proxy server 199. The caching proxy server 199 can be acomponent which is operated by the application server/content provider110, the host server 100, or a network service provider 112, and or anycombination of the above to facilitate network traffic management fornetwork and device resource conservation. Proxy server 199 can be used,for example, for caching content to be provided to the device 150, forexample, from one or more of, the application server/provider 110, hostserver 100, and/or a network service provider 112. Content caching canalso be entirely or partially performed by the remote proxy 125 tosatisfy application requests or other data requests at the device 150.

In context aware traffic management and optimization for resourceconservation and/or keepalive optimization in signaling optimization ina network (e.g., cellular or other wireless networks), characteristicsof user activity/behavior and/or application behavior at a mobile device(e.g., any wireless device) 150 can be tracked by the local proxy 175and communicated, over the network 106 to the proxy server 125 componentin the host server 100, for example, as connection metadata. The proxyserver 125 which in turn is coupled to the application server/provider110 provides content and data to satisfy requests made at the device150. The local proxy 175 can be a protocol agnostic component that canidentify a pattern within a byte stream and perform a direct replay ofthe binary transactions in one embodiment. In another embodiment, thelocal proxy 175 can optimize keepalives for signaling optimization in awireless network utilizing proprietary and/or non-proprietary protocols.

In addition, the local proxy 175 can identify and retrieve mobile deviceproperties, including one or more of, battery level, network that thedevice is registered on, radio state, signal strength, cell identifier(i.e., cell ID), location area code, or whether the mobile device isbeing used (e.g., interacted with by a user). In some instances, thelocal proxy 175 can delay, expedite (prefetch), and/or modify data priorto transmission to the proxy server 125, when appropriate, as will befurther detailed with references to the description associated with theexamples of FIG. 2A.

The local database 185 can be included in the local proxy 175 or coupledto the local proxy 175 and can be queried for a locally stored responseto the data request prior to the data request being forwarded on to theproxy server 125. Locally cached responses can be used by the localproxy 175 to satisfy certain application requests of the mobile device150, by retrieving cached content stored in the cache storage 185, whenthe cached content is still valid.

Similarly, the proxy server 125 of the host server 100 can also delay,expedite, or modify data from the local proxy prior to transmission tothe content sources (e.g., the application server/content provider 110).In addition, the proxy server 125 uses device properties and connectionmetadata to generate rules for satisfying request of applications on themobile device 150. The proxy server 125 can gather real time trafficinformation about requests of applications for later use in optimizingsimilar connections with the mobile device 150 or other mobile devices.

In general, the local proxy 175 and the proxy server 125 are transparentto the multiple applications executing on the mobile device. The localproxy 175 is generally transparent to the operating system or platformof the mobile device and may or may not be specific to devicemanufacturers. In some instances, the local proxy 175 is optionallycustomizable in part or in whole to be device specific. In someembodiments, the local proxy 175 may be bundled into a wireless model, afirewall, and/or a router.

In one embodiment, the host server 100 can in some instances, utilizethe store and forward functions of a short message service center (SMSC)112, such as that provided by the network service provider, incommunicating with the device 150 in achieving network trafficmanagement. Note that SMSC 112 can also utilize any other type ofalternative channel including USSD or other network control mechanisms.The host server 100 can forward content or HTTP responses to the SMSC112 such that it is automatically forwarded to the device 150 ifavailable, and for subsequent forwarding if the device 150 is notcurrently available.

In general, the disclosed distributed proxy and cache system allowsoptimization of network usage, for example, by serving requests from thelocal cache 185, the local proxy 175 reduces the number of requests thatneed to be satisfied over the network 106. Further, the local proxy 175and the proxy server 125 may filter irrelevant data from thecommunicated data. In addition, the local proxy 175 and the proxy server125 can also accumulate low priority data and send it in batches toavoid the protocol overhead of sending individual data fragments. Thelocal proxy 175 and the proxy server 125 can also compress or transcodethe traffic, reducing the amount of data sent over the network 106and/or 108. The signaling traffic in the network 106 and/or 108 can bereduced, as the networks are now used less often and the network trafficcan be synchronized among individual applications.

With respect to the battery life of the mobile device 150, by servingapplication or content requests from the local cache 185, the localproxy 175 can reduce the number of times the radio module is powered up.The local proxy 175 and the proxy server 125 can work in conjunction toaccumulate low priority data and send it in batches to reduce the numberof times and/or amount of time when the radio is powered up. The localproxy 175 can synchronize the network use by performing the batched datatransfer for all connections simultaneously. Furthermore, by preventingthe mobile device from constantly attempting to signal the network thatis congested, and/or allowing selective (e.g., high priority traffic)towards the network, the local proxy 175 can conserve battery resourcesof the mobile device.

FIG. 1C illustrates an example diagram showing the architecture ofclient side components in a distributed proxy and cache system having anapplication traffic offloading engine for optimizing signaling in awireless network for traffic utilizing proprietary (non-standard) andnon-proprietary (e.g., HTTP) protocols.

The client side proxy components 175 can include software components oragents installed on the mobile device that enables traffic optimizationand performs the related functionalities on the client side. Componentsof the client side proxy 175 can operate transparently for end users andapplications 163, and interface with the device's operating system (OS)162. The client side proxy 175 can be installed on mobile devices foroptimization to take place, and it can effectuate changes on the dataroutes and/or timing. Once data routing is modified, the client sideproxy 175 can respond to application requests to service providers orhost servers, in addition to or instead of letting those applications163 access data network directly. In general, applications 163 on themobile device will not notice that the client side proxy 175 isresponding to their requests.

Some example components of the client side proxy 175 are described asfollows:

Device State Monitor 121: The device state monitor 121 can beresponsible for identifying several states and metrics in the device,such as network status, display status, battery level (e.g., via theradio/battery information 161), etc., such that the remaining componentsin the client side proxy 175 can operate and make decisions according todevice state, acting in an optimal way in each state.

Traffic Recognizer 122: The traffic recognizer 122 analyzes all trafficbetween the wireless device applications 163 and their respective hostservers in order to identify recurrent patterns. Supported transportprotocols include, for example, DNS, HTTP and HTTPS, such that trafficthrough those ports is directed to the client side proxy 175. Whileanalyzing traffic, the client side proxy 175 can identify recurringpolling patterns which can be candidates to be performed remotely by theserver side proxy 125, and send to the protocol optimizer 123.

Protocol Optimizer 123: The protocol optimizer 123 can implement thelogic of serving recurrent request from the local cache 185 instead ofallowing those request go over the network to the serviceprovider/application host server. One is its tasks is to eliminate orminimize the need to send requests to the network, positively affectingnetwork congestion and device battery life.

Local Cache 185: The local cache 185 can store responses to recurrentrequests, and can be used by the Protocol Optimizer 123 to sendresponses to the applications 163.

Traffic Scheduler 124: The traffic scheduler 124 can temporally movecommunications to optimize usage of device resources by unifyingkeep-alive signaling so that some or all of the different applications163 can send keep-alive messages at the same time (traffic pipelining).Traffic scheduler 124 may also decide to delay transmission of data thatis not relevant at a given time (for example, when the device is notactively used).

Policy Manager 125: The policy manager 125 can store and enforce trafficoptimization and reporting policies provisioned by a Policy ManagementServer (PMS). At the client side proxy 175 first start, trafficoptimization and reporting policies (policy profiles) that is to beenforced in a particular device can be provisioned by the PolicyManagement Server. Enforcing traffic management policies at the device'sIP layer lets an operator manage traffic before it uses radio accessednetwork resources. Policy usage can range from creating highly targetedsubscriber plans to proactively and/or reactively managing networkcongestion. In one implementation, the conditions for selecting a policyfor enforcement, and/or conditions for dropping an implemented policymay be managed or coordinated by the policy manager 125.

Watch Dog 127: The watch dog 127 can monitor the client side proxy 175operating availability. In case the client side proxy 175 is not workingdue to a failure or because it has been disabled, the watchdog 127 canreset DNS routing rules information and can restore original DNSsettings for the device to continue working until the client side proxy175 service is restored.

Reporting Agent 126: The reporting agent 126 can gather information(e.g., logs) about the events taking place in the device and sends theinformation to the log storage and processing service 174, whichcollects and stores client-side and/or server-side proxy system logs.Event details are stored temporarily in the device and transferred tolog storage and processing service 174 only when the data channel stateis active. If the client side proxy 175 does not send records within aperiod of time (e.g., twenty-four hours), the reporting agent 126 may,in one embodiment, attempt to open the connection and send recordedentries or, in case there are no entries in storage, an empty reportingpacket. All reporting settings may be configured in the policymanagement server. The information in the logs may be used for reportingand/or troubleshooting, for example.

Push Client 128: The push client 128 can be responsible for the trafficto between the server side proxy 125 and the client side proxy 175. Thepush client 128 can send out service requests like content updaterequests and policy update requests, and receives updates to thoserequests from the server side proxy 125. In addition, push client 128can send data to a log storage and processing service 176, which may beinternal to or external to the server side proxy 125.

The proxy server 199 has a wide variety of uses, from speeding up a webserver by caching repeated requests, to caching web, DNS and othernetwork lookups for a group of clients sharing network resources. Theproxy server 199 is optional. The distributed proxy and cache system(125 and/or 175) allows for a flexible proxy configuration using eitherthe proxy 199, additional proxy(s) in operator's network, or integratingboth proxies 199 and an operator's or other third-party's proxy.

The functions and features of the application traffic offloading engine470 is described in detail in FIG. 2B.

FIG. 2A depicts a block diagram illustrating another example ofclient-side components in a distributed proxy and cache system, furtherincluding a proprietary/non-standard protocol adaptation engine and anapplication traffic offloading engine. The client-side components in adistributed proxy and cache system can reside on a mobile device (e.g.,wireless device) 250 that manages traffic in a wireless network (orbroadband network) for offloading application traffic for signalingoptimization, resource conservation, content caching, and/or trafficmanagement. The client-side proxy (or local proxy 275) can furthercategorize mobile traffic and/or implement delivery policies based onapplication behavior, content priority, user activity, and/or userexpectations.

The device 250, which can be a portable or mobile device (e.g., anywireless device), such as a portable phone, generally includes, forexample, a network interface 208 an operating system 204, a context API206, and mobile applications which may be proxy-unaware 210 orproxy-aware 220. Note that the device 250 is specifically illustrated inthe example of FIG. 2A as a mobile device, such is not a limitation andthat device 250 may be any wireless, broadband, portable/mobile ornon-portable device able to receive, transmit signals to satisfy datarequests over a network including wired or wireless networks (e.g.,Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, LAN, WAN, etc.).

The network interface 208 can be a networking module that enables thedevice 250 to mediate data in a network with an entity that is externalto the host server 250, through any known and/or convenientcommunications protocol supported by the host and the external entity.The network interface 208 can include one or more of a network adaptorcard, a wireless network interface card (e.g., SMS interface, WiFiinterface, interfaces for various generations of mobile communicationstandards including but not limited to 2G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, LTE, etc.,),Bluetooth, or whether or not the connection is via a router, an accesspoint, a wireless router, a switch, a multilayer switch, a protocolconverter, a gateway, a bridge, a bridge router, a hub, a digital mediareceiver, and/or a repeater.

Device 250 can further include, client-side components of thedistributed proxy and cache system which can include, a local proxy 275(e.g., a mobile client of a mobile device) and a cache 285. In oneembodiment, the local proxy 275 includes a user activity module 215, aproxy API 225, a request/transaction manager 235, a caching policymanager 245 having an application protocol module 248, a traffic shapingengine 255, and/or a connection manager 265. The traffic shaping engine255 may further include an alignment module 256 and/or a batching module257, the connection manager 265 may further include a radio controller266. The request/transaction manager 235 can further include anapplication behavior detector 236 and/or a prioritization engine 241,the application behavior detector 236 may further include a patterndetector 237 and/or and application profile generator 239. The localproxy or the device can further include a proprietary/non-standardprotocol adaptation engine 401 for optimizing traffic in a protocolagnostic manner, and/or an application traffic offloading engine 470 forblocking application specific channels, and offloading traffic to ashared channel to optimize signaling in the wireless network for trafficin a protocol agnostic manner Additional or lesscomponents/modules/engines can be included in the local proxy 275 andeach illustrated component.

As used herein, a “module,” “a manager,” a “handler,” a “detector,” an“interface,” a “controller,” a “normalizer,” a “generator,” an“invalidator,” or an “engine” includes a general purpose, dedicated orshared processor and, typically, firmware or software modules that areexecuted by the processor. Depending upon implementation-specific orother considerations, the module, manager, handler, detector, interface,controller, normalizer, generator, invalidator, or engine can becentralized or its functionality distributed. The module, manager,handler, detector, interface, controller, normalizer, generator,invalidator, or engine can include general or special purpose hardware,firmware, or software embodied in a computer-readable (storage) mediumfor execution by the processor.

As used herein, a computer-readable medium or computer-readable storagemedium is intended to include all mediums that are statutory (e.g., inthe United States, under 35 U.S.C. 101), and to specifically exclude allmediums that are non-statutory in nature to the extent that theexclusion is necessary for a claim that includes the computer-readable(storage) medium to be valid. Known statutory computer-readable mediumsinclude hardware (e.g., registers, random access memory (RAM),non-volatile (NV) storage, to name a few), but may or may not be limitedto hardware.

In one embodiment, a portion of the distributed proxy and cache systemfor network traffic management resides in or is in communication withdevice 250, including local proxy 275 (mobile client) and/or cache 285.The local proxy 275 can provide an interface on the device 250 for usersto access device applications and services including email, IM, voicemail, visual voicemail, feeds, Internet, games, productivity tools, orother applications, etc.

The proxy 275 is generally application independent and can be used byapplications (e.g., both proxy-aware and proxy-unaware applications 210and 220 and other mobile applications) to open TCP connections to aremote server (e.g., the server 100). In some instances, the local proxy275 includes a proxy API 225 which can be optionally used to interfacewith proxy-aware applications 220 (or applications (e.g., mobileapplications) on a mobile device (e.g., any wireless device)).

The applications 210 and 220 can generally include any user application,widgets, software, HTTP-based application, web browsers, video or othermultimedia streaming or downloading application, video games, socialnetwork applications, email clients, RSS management applications,application stores, document management applications, productivityenhancement applications, etc. The applications can be provided with thedevice OS, by the device manufacturer, by the network service provider,downloaded by the user, or provided by others.

One embodiment of the local proxy 275 includes or is coupled to acontext API 206, as shown. The context API 206 may be a part of theoperating system 204 or device platform or independent of the operatingsystem 204, as illustrated. The operating system 204 can include anyoperating system including but not limited to, any previous, current,and/or future versions/releases of, Windows Mobile, iOS, Android,Symbian, Palm OS, Brew MP, Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), Blackberry, etc.

The context API 206 may be a plug-in to the operating system 204 or aparticular client/application on the device 250. The context API 206 candetect signals indicative of user or device activity, for example,sensing motion, gesture, device location, changes in device location,device backlight, keystrokes, clicks, activated touch screen, mouseclick or detection of other pointer devices. The context API 206 can becoupled to input devices or sensors on the device 250 to identify thesesignals. Such signals can generally include input received in responseto explicit user input at an input device/mechanism at the device 250and/or collected from ambient signals/contextual cues detected at or inthe vicinity of the device 250 (e.g., light, motion, piezoelectric,etc.).

In one embodiment, the user activity module 215 interacts with thecontext API 206 to identify, determine, infer, detect, compute, predict,and/or anticipate, characteristics of user activity on the device 250.Various inputs collected by the context API 206 can be aggregated by theuser activity module 215 to generate a profile for characteristics ofuser activity. Such a profile can be generated by the user activitymodule 215 with various temporal characteristics. For instance, useractivity profile can be generated in real-time for a given instant toprovide a view of what the user is doing or not doing at a given time(e.g., defined by a time window, in the last minute, in the last 30seconds, etc.), a user activity profile can also be generated for a‘session’ defined by an application or web page that describes thecharacteristics of user behavior with respect to a specific task theyare engaged in on the device 250, or for a specific time period (e.g.,for the last 2 hours, for the last 5 hours).

Additionally, characteristic profiles can be generated by the useractivity module 215 to depict a historical trend for user activity andbehavior (e.g., 1 week, 1 mo., 2 mo., etc.). Such historical profilescan also be used to deduce trends of user behavior, for example, accessfrequency at different times of day, trends for certain days of the week(weekends or week days), user activity trends based on location data(e.g., IP address, GPS, or cell tower coordinate data) or changes inlocation data (e.g., user activity based on user location, or useractivity based on whether the user is on the go, or traveling outside ahome region, etc.) to obtain user activity characteristics.

In one embodiment, user activity module 215 can detect and track useractivity with respect to applications, documents, files, windows, icons,and folders on the device 250. For example, the user activity module 215can detect when an application or window (e.g., a web browser or anyother type of application) has been exited, closed, minimized,maximized, opened, moved into the foreground, or into the background,multimedia content playback, etc.

In one embodiment, characteristics of the user activity on the device250 can be used to locally adjust behavior of the device (e.g., mobiledevice or any wireless device) to optimize its resource consumption suchas battery/power consumption and more generally, consumption of otherdevice resources including memory, storage, and processing power. In oneembodiment, the use of a radio on a device can be adjusted based oncharacteristics of user behavior (e.g., by the radio controller 266 ofthe connection manager 265) coupled to the user activity module 215. Forexample, the radio controller 266 can turn the radio on or off, based oncharacteristics of the user activity on the device 250. In addition, theradio controller 266 can adjust the power mode of the radio (e.g., to bein a higher power mode or lower power mode) depending on characteristicsof user activity.

In one embodiment, characteristics of the user activity on device 250can also be used to cause another device (e.g., other computers, amobile device, a wireless device, or a non-portable device) or server(e.g., host server 100) which can communicate (e.g., via a cellular orother network) with the device 250 to modify its communication frequencywith the device 250. The local proxy 275 can use the characteristicsinformation of user behavior determined by the user activity module 215to instruct the remote device as to how to modulate its communicationfrequency (e.g., decreasing communication frequency, such as data pushfrequency if the user is idle, requesting that the remote device notifythe device 250 if new data, changed, data, or data of a certain level ofimportance becomes available, etc.).

In one embodiment, the user activity module 215 can, in response todetermining that user activity characteristics indicate that a user isactive after a period of inactivity, request that a remote device (e.g.,server host server) send the data that was buffered as a result of thepreviously decreased communication frequency.

In addition, or in alternative, the local proxy 275 can communicate thecharacteristics of user activity at the device 250 to the remote device(e.g., host server 100) and the remote device determines how to alterits own communication frequency with the device 250 for network resourceconservation and conservation of device 250 resources.

One embodiment of the local proxy 275 further includes arequest/transaction manager 235, which can detect, identify, intercept,process, manage, data requests initiated on the device 250, for example,by applications 210 and/or 220, and/or directly/indirectly by a userrequest. The request/transaction manager 235 can determine how and whento process a given request or transaction, or a set ofrequests/transactions, based on transaction characteristics. Therequest/transaction manager 235 can prioritize requests or transactionsmade by applications and/or users at the device 250, for example by theprioritization engine 241. Importance or priority ofrequests/transactions can be determined by the request/transactionmanager 235 by applying a rule set, for example, according to timesensitivity of the transaction, time sensitivity of the content in thetransaction, time criticality of the transaction, time criticality ofthe data transmitted in the transaction, and/or time criticality orimportance of an application making the request.

In addition, transaction characteristics can also depend on whether thetransaction was a result of user-interaction or other user-initiatedaction on the device (e.g., user interaction with an application (e.g.,a mobile application)). In general, a time critical transaction caninclude a transaction resulting from a user-initiated data transfer, andcan be prioritized as such. Transaction characteristics can also dependon the amount of data that will be transferred or is anticipated to betransferred as a result of the requested transaction. For example, theconnection manager 265, can adjust the radio mode (e.g., high power orlow power mode via the radio controller 266) based on the amount of datathat will need to be transferred.

In addition, the radio controller 266/connection manager 265 can adjustthe radio power mode (high or low) based on time criticality/sensitivityof the transaction. The radio controller 266 can trigger the use of highpower radio mode when a time-critical transaction (e.g., a transactionresulting from a user-initiated data transfer, an application running inthe foreground, any other event meeting a certain criteria) is initiatedor detected.

In general, the priorities can be set by default, for example, based ondevice platform, device manufacturer, operating system, etc. Prioritiescan alternatively or in additionally be set by the particularapplication; for example, the Facebook application (e.g., a mobileapplication) can set its own priorities for various transactions (e.g.,a status update can be of higher priority than an add friend request ora poke request, a message send request can be of higher priority than amessage delete request, for example), an email client or IM chat clientmay have its own configurations for priority. The prioritization engine241 may include set of rules for assigning priority.

The prioritization engine 241 can also track network providerlimitations or specifications on application or transaction priority indetermining an overall priority status for a request/transaction.Furthermore, priority can in part or in whole be determined by userpreferences, either explicit or implicit. A user, can in general, setpriorities at different tiers, such as, specific priorities forsessions, or types, or applications (e.g., a browsing session, a gamingsession, versus an IM chat session, the user may set a gaming session toalways have higher priority than an IM chat session, which may havehigher priority than web-browsing session). A user can setapplication-specific priorities, (e.g., a user may set Facebook-relatedtransactions to have a higher priority than LinkedIn-relatedtransactions), for specific transaction types (e.g., for all sendmessage requests across all applications to have higher priority thanmessage delete requests, for all calendar-related events to have a highpriority, etc.), and/or for specific folders.

The prioritization engine 241 can track and resolve conflicts inpriorities set by different entities. For example, manual settingsspecified by the user may take precedence over device OS settings,network provider parameters/limitations (e.g., set in default for anetwork service area, geographic locale, set for a specific time of day,or set based on service/fee type) may limit any user-specified settingsand/or application-set priorities. In some instances, a manualsynchronization request received from a user can override some, most, orall priority settings in that the requested synchronization is performedwhen requested, regardless of the individually assigned priority or anoverall priority ranking for the requested action.

Priority can be specified and tracked internally in any known and/orconvenient manner, including but not limited to, a binaryrepresentation, a multi-valued representation, a graded representationand all are considered to be within the scope of the disclosedtechnology.

TABLE I Change Change (initiated on device) Priority (initiated onserver) Priority Send email High Receive email High Delete email LowEdit email Often not possible (Un)read Low to sync (Low email ifpossible) Move message Low New email in Low Read more High deleted itemsDownload High Delete an email Low attachment (Un)Read an email Low NewCalendar event High Move messages Low Edit/change Calendar High Anycalendar change High event Any contact change High Add a contact HighWipe/lock device High Edit a contact High Settings change High Searchcontacts High Any folder change High Change a setting High Connectorrestart High (if no Manual send/ High changes nothing receive is sent)IM status Medium Social Network Medium change Status Updates Auctionoutbid or High Severe Weather High change notification Alerts WeatherUpdates Low News Updates Low

Table I above shows, for illustration purposes, some examples oftransactions with examples of assigned priorities in a binaryrepresentation scheme. Additional assignments are possible foradditional types of events, requests, transactions, and as previouslydescribed, priority assignments can be made at more or less granularlevels, e.g., at the session level or at the application level, etc.

As shown by way of example in the above table, in general, lowerpriority requests/transactions can include, updating message status asbeing read, unread, deleting of messages, deletion of contacts; higherpriority requests/transactions, can in some instances include, statusupdates, new IM chat message, new email, calendar eventupdate/cancellation/deletion, an event in a mobile gaming session, orother entertainment related events, a purchase confirmation through aweb purchase or online, request to load additional or download content,contact book related events, a transaction to change a device setting,location-aware or location-based events/transactions, or any otherevents/request/transactions initiated by a user or where the user isknown to be, expected to be, or suspected to be waiting for a response,etc.

Inbox pruning events (e.g., email, or any other types of messages), aregenerally considered low priority and absent other impending events,generally will not trigger use of the radio on the device 250.Specifically, pruning events to remove old email or other content can be‘piggy backed’ with other communications if the radio is not otherwiseon, at the time of a scheduled pruning event. For example, if the userhas preferences set to ‘keep messages for 7 days old,’ then instead ofpowering on the device radio to initiate a message delete from thedevice 250 the moment that the message has exceeded 7 days old, themessage is deleted when the radio is powered on next. If the radio isalready on, then pruning may occur as regularly scheduled.

The request/transaction manager 235, can use the priorities for requests(e.g., by the prioritization engine 241) to manage outgoing traffic fromthe device 250 for resource optimization (e.g., to utilize the deviceradio more efficiently for battery conservation). For example,transactions/requests below a certain priority ranking may not triggeruse of the radio on the device 250 if the radio is not already switchedon, as controlled by the connection manager 265. In contrast, the radiocontroller 266 can turn on the radio such a request can be sent when arequest for a transaction is detected to be over a certain prioritylevel.

In one embodiment, priority assignments (such as that determined by thelocal proxy 275 or another device/entity) can be used cause a remotedevice to modify its communication with the frequency with the mobiledevice or wireless device. For example, the remote device can beconfigured to send notifications to the device 250 when data of higherimportance is available to be sent to the mobile device or wirelessdevice.

In one embodiment, transaction priority can be used in conjunction withcharacteristics of user activity in shaping or managing traffic, forexample, by the traffic shaping engine 255. For example, the trafficshaping engine 255 can, in response to detecting that a user is dormantor inactive, wait to send low priority transactions from the device 250,for a period of time. In addition, the traffic shaping engine 255 canallow multiple low priority transactions to accumulate for batchtransferring from the device 250 (e.g., via the batching module 257),Inone embodiment, the priorities can be set, configured, or readjusted bya user. For example, content depicted in Table I in the same or similarform can be accessible in a user interface on the device 250 and forexample, used by the user to adjust or view the priorities.

The batching module 257 can initiate batch transfer based on certaincriteria. For example, batch transfer (e.g., of multiple occurrences ofevents, some of which occurred at different instances in time) may occurafter a certain number of low priority events have been detected, orafter an amount of time elapsed after the first of the low priorityevent was initiated. In addition, the batching module 257 can initiatebatch transfer of the cumulated low priority events when a higherpriority event is initiated or detected at the device 250. Batchtransfer can otherwise be initiated when radio use is triggered foranother reason (e.g., to receive data from a remote device such as hostserver 100 or 300). In one embodiment, an impending pruning event(pruning of an inbox), or any other low priority events, can be executedwhen a batch transfer occurs.

In general, the batching capability can be disabled or enabled at theevent/transaction level, application level, or session level, based onany one or combination of the following: user configuration, devicelimitations/settings, manufacturer specification, network providerparameters/limitations, platform-specific limitations/settings, deviceOS settings, etc. In one embodiment, batch transfer can be initiatedwhen an application/window/file is closed out, exited, or moved into thebackground; users can optionally be prompted before initiating a batchtransfer; users can also manually trigger batch transfers.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 locally adjusts radio use on thedevice 250 by caching data in the cache 285. When requests ortransactions from the device 250 can be satisfied by content stored inthe cache 285, the radio controller 266 need not activate the radio tosend the request to a remote entity (e.g., the host server 100, acontent provider/application server such as the server/provider 110 orthe messaging server(s) such as the GCM and/or EAS servers). As such,the local proxy 275 can use the local cache 285 and the cache policymanager 245 to locally store data for satisfying data requests toeliminate or reduce the use of the device radio for conservation ofnetwork resources and device battery consumption.

In leveraging the local cache, once the request/transaction manager 225intercepts a data request by an application on the device 250, the localrepository 285 can be queried to determine if there is any locallystored response, and also determine whether the response is valid. Whena valid response is available in the local cache 285, the response canbe provided to the application on the device 250 without the device 250needing to access the cellular network or wireless broadband network.

If a valid response is not available, the local proxy 275 can query aremote proxy to determine whether a remotely stored response is valid.If so, the remotely stored response (e.g., which may be stored on theserver cache 135 or optional caching server 199) can be provided to themobile device, possibly without the mobile device 250 needing to accessthe cellular network, thus relieving consumption of network resources.

If a valid cache response is not available, or if cache responses areunavailable for the intercepted data request, the local proxy 275, forexample, the caching policy manager 245, can send the data request to aremote proxy which forwards the data request to a content source (e.g.,application server/content provider 110) and a response from the contentsource can be provided through the remote proxy. The cache policymanager 245 can manage or process requests that use a variety ofprotocols, including but not limited to HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, POP, SMTP,XMPP, and/or ActiveSync. The caching policy manager 245 can locallystore responses for data requests in the local database 285 as cacheentries, for subsequent use in satisfying same or similar data requests.

The caching policy manager 245 can request that the remote proxy monitorresponses for the data request and the remote proxy can notify thedevice 250 when an unexpected response to the data request is detected.In such an event, the cache policy manager 245 can erase or replace thelocally stored response(s) on the device 250 when notified of theunexpected response (e.g., new data, changed data, additional data,etc.) to the data request. In one embodiment, the caching policy manager245 is able to detect or identify the protocol used for a specificrequest, including but not limited to HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, POP, SMTP,XMPP, and/or ActiveSync. In one embodiment, application specifichandlers (e.g., via the application protocol module 246 of the cachingpolicy manager 245) on the local proxy 275 allows for optimization ofany protocol that can be port mapped to a handler in the distributedproxy (e.g., port mapped on the proxy server).

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 notifies the remote proxy suchthat the remote proxy can monitor responses received for the datarequest from the content source for changed results prior to returningthe result to the device 250, for example, when the data request to thecontent source has yielded same results to be returned to the mobiledevice. In general, the local proxy 275 can simulate application serverresponses for applications on the device 250, using locally cachedcontent. This can prevent utilization of the cellular network fortransactions where new/changed data is not available, thus freeing upnetwork resources and preventing network congestion.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 includes an application behaviordetector 236 to track, detect, observe, monitor, applications (e.g.,proxy-aware and/or unaware applications 210 and 220) accessed orinstalled on the device 250. Application behaviors, or patterns indetected behaviors (e.g., via the pattern detector 237) of one or moreapplications accessed on the device 250 can be used by the local proxy275 to optimize traffic in a wireless network needed to satisfy the dataneeds of these applications.

For example, based on detected behavior of multiple applications, thetraffic shaping engine 255 can align content requests made by at leastsome of the applications over the network (wireless network) (e.g., viathe alignment module 256). The alignment module 256 can delay orexpedite some earlier received requests to achieve alignment. Whenrequests are aligned, the traffic shaping engine 255 can utilize theconnection manager to poll over the network to satisfy application datarequests. Content requests for multiple applications can be alignedbased on behavior patterns or rules/settings including, for example,content types requested by the multiple applications (audio, video,text, etc.), device (e.g., mobile or wireless device) parameters, and/ornetwork parameters/traffic conditions, network service providerconstraints/specifications, etc.

In one embodiment, the pattern detector 237 can detect recurrences inapplication requests made by the multiple applications, for example, bytracking patterns in application behavior. A tracked pattern caninclude, detecting that certain applications, as a background process,poll an application server regularly, at certain times of day, oncertain days of the week, periodically in a predictable fashion, with acertain frequency, with a certain frequency in response to a certaintype of event, in response to a certain type user query, frequency thatrequested content is the same, frequency with which a same request ismade, interval between requests, applications making a request, or anycombination of the above, for example.

Such recurrences can be used by traffic shaping engine 255 to offloadpolling of content from a content source (e.g., from an applicationserver/content provider 110) that would result from the applicationrequests that would be performed at the mobile device or wireless device250 to be performed instead, by a proxy server (e.g., proxy server 125)remote from the device 250. Traffic shaping engine 255 can decide tooffload the polling when the recurrences match a rule. For example,there are multiple occurrences or requests for the same resource thathave exactly the same content, or returned value, or based on detectionof repeatable time periods between requests and responses such as aresource that is requested at specific times during the day. Theoffloading of the polling can decrease the amount of bandwidthconsumption needed by the mobile device 250 to establish a wireless(cellular or other wireless broadband) connection with the contentsource for repetitive content polls.

As a result of the offloading of the polling, locally cached contentstored in the local cache 285 can be provided to satisfy data requestsat the device 250, when content change is not detected in the polling ofthe content sources. As such, when data has not changed, applicationdata needs can be satisfied without needing to enable radio use oroccupying cellular bandwidth in a wireless network. When data haschanged and/or new data has been received, the remote entity to whichpolling is offloaded, can notify the device 250. The remote entity maybe the host server 100.

In one embodiment, the local proxy 275 can mitigate the need/use ofperiodic keep-alive messages (heartbeat messages) to maintain TCP/IPconnections, which can consume significant amounts of power thus havingdetrimental impacts on mobile device battery life. The connectionmanager 265 in the local proxy (e.g., the heartbeat manager 267) candetect, identify, and intercept any or all heartbeat (keep-alive)messages being sent from applications.

The heartbeat manager 267 can prevent any or all of these heartbeatmessages from being sent over the cellular, or other network, andinstead rely on the server component of the distributed proxy system(e.g., shown in FIG. 1B) to generate and send the heartbeat messages tomaintain a connection with the backend (e.g., applicationserver/provider 110 in the example of FIG. 1A).

The local proxy 275 generally represents any one or a portion of thefunctions described for the individual managers, modules, and/orengines. The local proxy 275 and device 250 can include additional orless components; more or less functions can be included, in whole or inpart, without deviating from the novel art of the disclosure.

FIG. 2B depicts a block diagram illustrating additional components inthe proprietary/non-standard protocol adaptation engine and theapplication traffic offloading engine shown in the example of FIG. 2.

Some applications have their own mechanisms for communicating with theapplication servers or other third-party servers. For example, theseapplications can use their own communication channels to periodicallypoll their application/third-party servers for updates. Someapplications also use their proprietary push channels to receive pushnotifications. Many of these applications also utilize hybrid pushchannels. For example, some applications utilize the GCM as acommunication channel to receive push notifications or other data andupload data in addition to their own proprietary communication channel.In one embodiment, signaling from applications having hybrid push orother communication channels can be optimized by offloadingcommunication or traffic from the application-specific channel to ashared channel such as the GCM channel (e.g., via the applicationtraffic offloading engine 470 from FIG. 2A-2B). The offloading, in oneimplementation, can be managed by a policy enforcer or manager (e.g.,application traffic offloading policy manager 476 in FIG. 2B) thatenforces traffic management policies at the mobile device's IP layer.

In one embodiment, certain policies for offloading traffic to a sharedchannel can be enforced based on contextual information such as thestate of the mobile device (e.g., device user interface is beingactively used, or is idle for a duration, screen is off, device isoffline), state of the application (e.g., application is on theforeground or background), and the like (e.g., via application behaviordetector 236, user activity module 215 and/or backlight detector 219from FIG. 2C). For example, when the screen of the mobile device is offor when there is no user interaction, the policy enforcer can betriggered to enforce a policy that blocks an application so that theapplication cannot communicate with its application server or otherthird-party server to get updates, for example (e.g., via theapplication traffic blocking/unblocking module 474 in FIG. 2B). In oneimplementation, all traffic, including keepalive traffic, from and/or tothe application can be blocked such that the application has no directaccess to the network. Alternately, in another implementation, theapplication itself can be killed.

A local proxy on the mobile device can monitor the GCM channel for anymessages from the GCM server (e.g., via the GCM channel monitoring agent472). The GCM messages can be messages targeted to the blockedapplication or targeted to any application. When a message targeted tothe blocked application is detected, the local proxy can triggerunblocking of the application to allow the application to communicatewith its application server or third-party server (e.g., via theapplication traffic blocking/unblocking module 474 in FIG. 2B). In oneimplementation, in addition to a GCM message trigger, other changes incontextual state of the device (e.g., application moving to theforeground, user interaction, etc.) can also act as a trigger forunblocking an application (e.g., based on configuration of the trafficoffload trigger configuration module 473 in FIG. 2B). On unblocking, theapplication can access the network, and upload/download data to/from theapplication server or third-party server. In one implementation, in theAndroid® based systems, a connectivity Intent can be broadcast or sentto the application to trigger the application to connect to the network,and sync with the application server or third-party server.

In one implementation, the policy enforcer can define or configure thelocal proxy to unblock the application for a period of time. After thatperiod of time expires, the local proxy can again block or kill theapplication, and continue monitoring the GCM channel to detect and/orintercept GCM messages directed to the blocked application.

In one embodiment, in addition to offloading communication to the GCMchannel and using GCM message as a trigger to unblock a blockedapplication, the local proxy can further consolidate keepalives or othertraffic from their proprietary channels to the shared push channel suchas the GCM channel to optimize signaling and/or other device resources.

One or more methods provided herein include recognizing (either throughoffline analysis on in real time in the device) that a given applicationutilizes multiple overlapping push channels (typically its own and athird-party) and finding a mechanism that will direct the application toshift from one mechanism to another (which is more network/batteryfriendly) without impact on user experience, and having the desirednetwork/battery savings impact, through identifying

The method may further include, at which point of application's internalstate machine the non-wanted mechanism is to be blocked so that bothnetwork signaling reduction and battery consumption (if blockedincorrectly, the application may start spinning consuming moreCPU/battery even if not being able to consume network signaling)reduction can be achieved—typical mechanisms include dropping IP packets(not responding to them), rejecting IP packets (responding with ICMPDestination Unreachable messages), or blocking on application layer(accepting the TCP/IP socket and first payload data, but not respondingon application layer), and taking into account the state of any existingconnections that the application has (which typically need to beactively closed so that the server side does not attempt to send pushmessages through the blocked channel).

The method may further include determining how to unblock the blockedpush channel so that when an incoming message (or notification of it)comes through the alternative push channel, the application is able toperform any action it needs to process it and notify the user (byvisual, sounds, vibration, for example, or just updating its own UI inpreparation for user to turn on the screen later). This typicallyincludes observing the application traffic after unblocking, andre-initiate blocking only after the application has been able to performits necessary network accesses. Further, the re-blocking needs to takeinto account the radio state in case existing connections need to beclosed, to avoid them causing additional network connections themselves(i.e. start re-blocking only at the next radio-up opportunity).

FIG. 2C depicts a block diagram illustrating examples of additionalcomponents of the client-side (or local) proxy of FIG. 2A which isfurther capable of performing mobile traffic categorization and policyimplementation based on application behavior and/or user activity.

In this embodiment of the local proxy 275, the user activity module 215further includes one or more of, a user activity tracker 215 a, a useractivity prediction engine 215 b, and/or a user expectation manager 215c. The application behavior detect 236 can further include aprioritization engine 241 a, a time criticality detection engine 241 b,an application state categorizer 241 c, and/or an application trafficcategorizer 241 d. The local proxy 275 can further include a backlightdetector 219 and/or a network configuration selection engine 251. Thenetwork configuration selection engine 251 can further include, one ormore of, a wireless generation standard selector 251 a, a data ratespecifier 251 b, an access channel selection engine 251 c, and/or anaccess point selector.

In one embodiment, the application behavior detector 236 is able todetect, determined, identify, or infer, the activity state of anapplication on the mobile device 250 to which traffic has originatedfrom or is directed to, for example, via the application statecategorizer 241 c and/or the traffic categorizer 241 d. The activitystate can be determined by whether the application is in a foreground orbackground state on the mobile device (via the application statecategorizer 241 c) since the traffic for a foreground application vs. abackground application may be handled differently.

In one embodiment, the activity state can be determined, detected,identified, or inferred with a level of certainty of heuristics, basedon the backlight status of the mobile device 250 (e.g., by the backlightdetector 219) or other software agents or hardware sensors on the mobiledevice, including but not limited to, resistive sensors, capacitivesensors, ambient light sensors, motion sensors, touch sensors, etc. Ingeneral, if the backlight is on, the traffic can be treated as being ordetermined to be generated from an application that is active or in theforeground, or the traffic is interactive. In addition, if the backlightis on, the traffic can be treated as being or determined to be trafficfrom user interaction or user activity, or traffic containing data thatthe user is expecting within some time frame.

In one embodiment, the activity state is determined based on whether thetraffic is interactive traffic or maintenance traffic. Interactivetraffic can include transactions from responses and requests generateddirectly from user activity/interaction with an application and caninclude content or data that a user is waiting or expecting to receive.Maintenance traffic may be used to support the functionality of anapplication which is not directly detected by a user. Maintenancetraffic can also include actions or transactions that may take place inresponse to a user action, but the user is not actively waiting for orexpecting a response.

For example, a mail or message delete action at a mobile device 250generates a request to delete the corresponding mail or message at theserver, but the user typically is not waiting for a response. Thus, sucha request may be categorized as maintenance traffic, or traffic having alower priority (e.g., by the prioritization engine 241 a) and/or is nottime-critical (e.g., by the time criticality detection engine 214 b).

Contrastingly, a mail ‘read’ or message ‘read’ request initiated by auser a the mobile device 250, can be categorized as ‘interactivetraffic’ since the user generally is waiting to access content or datawhen they request to read a message or mail. Similarly, such a requestcan be categorized as having higher priority (e.g., by theprioritization engine 241 a) and/or as being time critical/timesensitive (e.g., by the time criticality detection engine 241 b).

The time criticality detection engine 241 b can generally determine,identify, infer the time sensitivity of data contained in traffic sentfrom the mobile device 250 or to the mobile device from a host server(e.g., host 300) or application server (e.g., app server/content source110). For example, time sensitive data can include, status updates,stock information updates, IM presence information, email messages orother messages, actions generated from mobile gaming applications,webpage requests, location updates, etc. Data that is not time sensitiveor time critical, by nature of the content or request, can includerequests to delete messages, mark-as-read or edited actions,application-specific actions such as a add-friend or delete-friendrequest, certain types of messages, or other information which does notfrequently changing by nature, etc. In some instances when the data isnot time critical, the timing with which to allow the traffic to passthrough is set based on when additional data needs to be sent from themobile device 250. For example, traffic shaping engine 255 can align thetraffic with one or more subsequent transactions to be sent together ina single power-on event of the mobile device radio (e.g., using thealignment module 256 and/or the batching module 257). The alignmentmodule 256 can also align polling requests occurring close in timedirected to the same host server, since these request are likely to beresponded to with the same data.

In the alternate or in combination, the activity state can be determinedfrom assessing, determining, evaluating, inferring, identifying useractivity at the mobile device 250 (e.g., via the user activity module215). For example, user activity can be directly detected and trackedusing the user activity tracker 215 a. The traffic resulting therefromcan then be categorized appropriately for subsequent processing todetermine the policy for handling. Furthermore, user activity can bepredicted or anticipated by the user activity prediction engine 215 b.By predicting user activity or anticipating user activity, the trafficthus occurring after the prediction can be treated as resulting fromuser activity and categorized appropriately to determine thetransmission policy.

In addition, the user activity module 215 can also manage userexpectations (e.g., via the user expectation manager 215 c and/or inconjunction with the activity tracker 215 and/or the prediction engine215 b) to ensure that traffic is categorized appropriately such thatuser expectations are generally met. For example, a user-initiatedaction should be analyzed (e.g., by the expectation manager 215) todetermine or infer whether the user would be waiting for a response. Ifso, such traffic should be handled under a policy such that the userdoes not experience an unpleasant delay in receiving such a response oraction.

In one embodiment, an advanced generation wireless standard network isselected for use in sending traffic between a mobile device and a hostserver in the wireless network based on the activity state of theapplication on the mobile device for which traffic is originated from ordirected to. An advanced technology standards such as the 3G, 3.5G, 3G+,4G, or LTE network can be selected for handling traffic generated as aresult of user interaction, user activity, or traffic containing datathat the user is expecting or waiting for. Advanced generation wirelessstandard network can also be selected for to transmit data contained intraffic directed to the mobile device which responds to foregroundactivities.

In categorizing traffic and defining a transmission policy for mobiletraffic, a network configuration can be selected for use (e.g., by thenetwork configuration selection engine 251) on the mobile device 250 insending traffic between the mobile device and a proxy server (325)and/or an application server (e.g., app server/host 110). The networkconfiguration that is selected can be determined based on informationgathered by the application behavior module 236 regarding applicationactivity state (e.g., background or foreground traffic), applicationtraffic category (e.g., interactive or maintenance traffic), anypriorities of the data/content, time sensitivity/criticality.

The network configuration selection engine 251 can select or specify oneor more of, a generation standard (e.g., via wireless generationstandard selector 251 a), a data rate (e.g., via data rate specifier 251b), an access channel (e.g., access channel selection engine 251 c),and/or an access point (e.g., via the access point selector 251 d), inany combination.

For example, a more advanced generation (e.g., 3G, LTE, or 4G or later)can be selected or specified for traffic when the activity state is ininteraction with a user or in a foreground on the mobile device.Contrastingly, an older generation standard (e.g., 2G, 2.5G, or 3G orolder) can be specified for traffic when one or more of the following isdetected, the application is not interacting with the user, theapplication is running in the background on the mobile device, or thedata contained in the traffic is not time critical, or is otherwisedetermined to have lower priority.

Similarly, a network configuration with a slower data rate can bespecified for traffic when one or more of the following is detected, theapplication is not interacting with the user, the application is runningin the background on the mobile device, or the data contained in thetraffic is not time critical. The access channel (e.g., Forward accesschannel or dedicated channel) can be specified.

FIG. 3 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

In the example of FIG. 3, the computer system 300 includes a processor,memory, non-volatile memory, and an interface device. Various commoncomponents (e.g., cache memory) are omitted for illustrative simplicity.The computer system 300 is intended to illustrate a hardware device onwhich any of the components depicted in the example of FIGS. 2A-2C (andany other components described in this specification) can beimplemented. The computer system 300 can be of any applicable known orconvenient type. The components of the computer system 300 can becoupled together via a bus or through some other known or convenientdevice.

One or more methods are disclosed herein. The one or more methods mayinclude determining that a device is communicating over at least twooverlapping push channels and blocking one of the push channels toeliminate or reduce overlap between the at least two overlapping pushchannels. Blocking may include dropping IP packets received from theblocked push channel. Blocking may include rejecting an IP packetreceived from the blocked push channel. Blocking may include blocking onan application layer for communications received from the blocked pushchannel. The one or more methods may include determining the state ofany existing connections that an application on the device iscommunicating on. The one or more methods may include, in response todetermining the state of an existing connection, closing the applicationconnection. The one or more methods may include receiving a push messagefrom an additional push channel and unblocking the blocked push channelso that the application can perform an action in response to the messagefrom the additional push channel. The one or more methods may includenotifying the user of the action. The one or more methods may includere-blocking the unblocked push channel after the action has completed.The one or more methods may include determining that the action iscomplete and re-blocking the unblocked push channel after the action hascompleted. The one or more methods may include denying blocking of thepush channel until a radio of the mobile device is powered on. The pushchannels may be proprietary or application specific. Blocking one of thepush channels may include blocking a non-common push channel to offloadthe communication onto a common push channel.

A method of reducing network traffic is provided. The method may includerecognizing multiple overlapping push channels at an application,determining that a first push channel of said multiple overlapping pushchannels can be blocked with minimal user experience impact, blockingthe first push channel to reduce network signaling and batteryconsumption, monitoring application traffic over a second push channelof said multiple overlapping push channels, unblocking the first pushchannel based on monitored application traffic to service applicationtraffic, and re-blocking the first push channel after the applicationhas serviced application traffic. Recognizing multiple overlapping pushchannels may be performed offline. Recognizing multiple overlapping pushchannels may be performed in real time. In one or more embodiments, thefirst channel may be that of a third party. Blocking may be performed byone of the following: dropping IP packets, rejecting IP packets, andblocking an application layer. Servicing application traffic may includenotifying a user.

Provided herein is non-transitory computer readable media containingcomputer code to implement a processor controlled system for determiningthat a device is communicating over at least two overlapping pushchannels and blocking one of the push channels to reduce overlap betweenthe at least two overlapping push channels. The computer code implementsa processor controlled system that blocks by dropping IP packets. Thecomputer code implements a processor controlled system that blocks byrejecting IP packets. The computer code implements a processorcontrolled system that blocks an application layer. The computer codeimplements a processor controlled system that determines the state ofany existing connections that the system is communicating on. Thecomputer code implements a processor controlled system that closes anapplication connection. The computer code implements a processorcontrolled system that receives a push message from an additional pushchannel and unblocks the blocked push channel so that the system canperform an action in response to the message from the additional pushchannel. The computer code may implement a processor controlled systemthat notifies the user of the action. The computer code implements aprocessor controlled system that re-blocks the unblocked push channelafter the action has completed. The computer code implements a processorcontrolled system that determines that the action is complete andre-blocks the unblocked push channel after the action has completed.Non-transitory computer readable media containing computer code toimplement a processor controlled system for reducing network traffic isprovided and configured for recognizing multiple overlapping pushchannels at an application, determining that a first push channel ofsaid multiple overlapping push channels can be blocked with minimal userexperience impact, blocking the first push channel such that networksignaling and battery consumption are reduced, monitoring applicationtraffic over a second push channel of said multiple overlapping pushchannels, unblocking the first push channel based on application trafficover the second push channel to enable servicing application traffic,and re-blocking the first push channel after the application hasperformed necessary network access to service the application traffic.Recognizing multiple overlapping push channels may be performed offline.Recognizing multiple overlapping push channels may be performed in realtime. At least one of said multiple overlapping push channels may bethat of a third party. Blocking may be performed by one of thefollowing: dropping IP packets, rejecting IP packets, and blocking inputto an application layer.

A communication network may be provided. The network may include amobile device having a processor, memory for storing information, and auser interface, the mobile device operating in accord with an operatingsystem and in accord with a push client application. Also provided is afirst server, a second server, a host server, a first networkoperatively connecting said first server and said second server to saidhost server, and a second network operatively connecting said firstnetwork to said mobile device. The push client application controls theprocessor to cause the mobile device to determine that the first serverand the second server produce overlapping first and second push channelsand block the first push channel to reduce overlap between the first andsecond push channels. The mobile device may block the first push channelby dropping IP packets, rejecting IP packets, or blocking an applicationlayer. The processor may further include determining the state of anyexisting connections that an application on the device is communicatingon.

A communication network is provided. The network includes a mobiledevice having a processor, memory storing an operating system and a pushclient application, and a user interface. The mobile device operates inaccord with the operating system and in accord with the push clientapplication. A first server having a first push channel and a secondserver having a second push channel that overlaps the first push channelare provided. A host server is provided. A first network operativelyconnects said first server and the second server to said host server anda second network operatively connects the first network to said mobiledevice. The push client application controls the processor to determinethat the first and second push channels overlap, determine that thefirst push channel can be blocked with minimal user experience impact,block the first push channel to reduce network signaling and batteryconsumption, monitor traffic on the second push channel, unblock thefirst push channel based on traffic on the second push channel, andre-block the first push channel after the push client application hasperformed necessary network access to service application traffic.

The processor may be, for example, a conventional microprocessor such asan Intel Pentium microprocessor or Motorola power PC microprocessor. Oneof skill in the relevant art will recognize that the terms“machine-readable (storage) medium” or “computer-readable (storage)medium” include any type of device that is accessible by the processor.

The memory is coupled to the processor by, for example, a bus. Thememory can include, by way of example but not limitation, random accessmemory (RAM), such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM). Thememory can be local, remote, or distributed.

The bus also couples the processor to the non-volatile memory and driveunit. The non-volatile memory is often a magnetic floppy or hard disk, amagnetic-optical disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), suchas a CD-ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM, a magnetic or optical card, or anotherform of storage for large amounts of data. Some of this data is oftenwritten, by a direct memory access process, into memory during executionof software in the computer 300. The non-volatile storage can be local,remote, or distributed. The non-volatile memory is optional becausesystems can be created with all applicable data available in memory. Atypical computer system will usually include at least a processor,memory, and a device (e.g., a bus) coupling the memory to the processor.

Software is typically stored in the non-volatile memory and/or the driveunit. Indeed, for large programs, it may not even be possible to storethe entire program in the memory. Nevertheless, it should be understoodthat for software to run, if necessary, it is moved to a computerreadable location appropriate for processing, and for illustrativepurposes, that location is referred to as the memory in this paper. Evenwhen software is moved to the memory for execution, the processor willtypically make use of hardware registers to store values associated withthe software, and local cache that, ideally, serves to speed upexecution. As used herein, a software program is assumed to be stored atany known or convenient location (from non-volatile storage to hardwareregisters) when the software program is referred to as “implemented in acomputer-readable medium.” A processor is considered to be “configuredto execute a program” when at least one value associated with theprogram is stored in a register readable by the processor.

The bus also couples the processor to the network interface device. Theinterface can include one or more of a modem or network interface. Itwill be appreciated that a modem or network interface can be consideredto be part of the computer system. The interface can include an analogmodem, isdn modem, cable modem, token ring interface, satellitetransmission interface (e.g. “direct PC”), or other interfaces forcoupling a computer system to other computer systems. The interface caninclude one or more input and/or output devices. The I/O devices caninclude, by way of example but not limitation, a keyboard, a mouse orother pointing device, disk drives, printers, a scanner, and other inputand/or output devices, including a display device. The display devicecan include, by way of example but not limitation, a cathode ray tube(CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), or some other applicable known orconvenient display device.

In operation, the computer system can be controlled by operating systemsoftware that includes a file management system, such as a diskoperating system. One example of operating system software withassociated file management system software is the family of operatingsystems known as Windows® from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.,and their associated file management systems. Another example ofoperating system software with its associated file management systemsoftware is the Linux operating system and its associated filemanagement system. The file management system is typically stored in thenon-volatile memory and/or drive unit and causes the processor toexecute the various acts required by the operating system to input andoutput data and to store data in the memory, including storing files onthe non-volatile memory and/or drive unit.

Some portions of the detailed description may be presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to adesired result. The operations are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasonsof common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements,symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the methods of some embodiments. The requiredstructure for a variety of these systems will appear from thedescription below. In addition, the techniques are not described withreference to any particular programming language, and variousembodiments may thus be implemented using a variety of programminglanguages.

In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may be a server computer, a client computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, an iPhone, aBlackberry, a processor, a telephone, a web appliance, a network router,switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine.

While the machine-readable medium or machine-readable storage medium isshown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encodingor carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and thatcause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of thepresently disclosed technique and innovation.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of thedisclosure, may be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processing units or processors in acomputer, cause the computer to perform operations to execute elementsinvolving the various aspects of the disclosure.

Moreover, while embodiments have been described in the context of fullyfunctioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the artwill appreciate that the various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that thedisclosure applies equally regardless of the particular type of machineor computer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

Further examples of machine-readable storage media, machine-readablemedia, or computer-readable (storage) media include but are not limitedto recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memorydevices, floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, opticaldisks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital VersatileDisks, (DVDs), etc.), among others, and transmission type media such asdigital and analog communication links.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,”“coupled,” or any variant thereof, means any connection or coupling,either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling ofconnection between the elements can be physical, logical, or acombination thereof. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,”and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall referto this application as a whole and not to any particular portions ofthis application. Where the context permits, words in the above DetailedDescription using the singular or plural number may also include theplural or singular number respectively. The word “or,” in reference to alist of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretationsof the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list,and any combination of the items in the list.

The above detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the teachings to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, thedisclosure are described above for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible within the scope of thedisclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Forexample, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order,alternative embodiments may perform routines having steps, or employsystems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes orblocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/ormodified to provide alternative or subcombinations. Each of theseprocesses or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways.Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed inseries, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel,or may be performed at different times. Further any specific numbersnoted herein are only examples: alternative implementations may employdiffering values or ranges.

The teachings of the disclosure provided herein can be applied to othersystems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements andacts of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the disclosure can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the variousreferences described above to provide yet further embodiments of thedisclosure.

These and other changes can be made to the disclosure in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain embodiments of the disclosure, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theteachings can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its implementation details, while still beingencompassed by the subject matter disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the disclosure with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the disclosure to the specific embodimentsdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe disclosure encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but alsoall equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the disclosure underthe claims.

While certain aspects of the disclosure are presented below in certainclaim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of thedisclosure in any number of claim forms. For example, while only oneaspect of the disclosure is recited as a means-plus-function claim under35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶13, other aspects may likewise be embodied as ameans-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as being embodied ina computer-readable medium. (Any claims intended to be treated under 35U.S.C. § 112, ¶13 will begin with the words “means for”.) Accordingly,the applicant reserves the right to add additional claims after filingthe application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspectsof the disclosure.

We claim:
 1. A method of reducing network traffic comprising: blocking,at a mobile device, a first channel to reduce network signaling in anetwork and to reduce battery consumption, wherein the first channelincludes a non-common channel; offloading application traffic of anapplication onto a second channel, wherein the second channel includes acommon channel; monitoring the application traffic of the applicationover the second channel; unblocking the first channel based on themonitored application traffic so that the application can perform anaction; re-blocking the first channel after the action has beencompleted; and unblocking the first channel when user activity isdetected, wherein the user activity includes whether the mobile deviceis being interacted with.